Buhari under pressure over corruption war, cabinet list

The ongoing anti-corruption crusade and delay in appointing ministers are two issues that have put the Muhammadu Buhari-led government on the firing line. However, concerned stakeholders have warned that Mr. President must not be stampeded into taking wrong decisions that will not augur well for Nigerians. OLUSESAN LAOYE reports

President Muhammadu Buhari is now under severe pressure over his anti-corruption fight and delay in constituting his cabinet. Eminent constitutional lawyer and elder statesman, Prof. Ben Nwabueze observed that Buhari has resorted to personal rule in the absence of ministers.

Although Nigerians are still divided over his approach to the two burning issues, however Mr President appears adamant as he pushes on with his anti-corruption crusade targeted at former government officials. He is also not shaken in his resolve to appoint only people with good records into his government, a development that has contributed to the delay in the appointment of ministers.

The issue of corruption and the way the present government of the All Progressives Congress, APC, is tackling it is now generating controversy and the opposition has accused President Buhari of selective prosecution. What the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is saying is that in as much as it does not mind the arrests and probe of anyone linked with corrupt practices, what it is against was the way and the fact that the targets are mostly PDP members.

The PDP argued that it must not be selective and accused the APC government of only picking on its members and those who served in former President Goodluck Jonathan administration. The party believes that the government of President Buhari is already creating sacred cows and not willing to pick members of his political parties, who are known to be corrupt.

What is also causing great altercations between the PDP and APC is the issue of the delay in appointment of ministers, who will serve under the new government of Buhari. The government is facing a lot of heat both from the opposition and some members of the public who think that it is rather taking too long for the federal cabinet to come on board. To this group the absence of ministers might be hampering the performance of the present government. They argued that right now Nigerians should have known their ministers and the extent of work going on at the federal level.

Although it was said that the delay in the appointment of ministers and advisers was due to the fact that the President wants to be careful in picking those who will work with him, some people argue that the excuse is not tenable. But members of the party believe that the President will spring a big surprise and by the time the list is out they would be happy to realize that the long wait was justified. What is also bothering Nigerians was the controversies which the actions of President Buhari are generating in the country so far and more than those who had ruled the country before him. It was said that it only took former President Obasanjo a month to announce his cabinet, while the late Umaru Yar’Adua did his in less than two months, but Jonathan’s took also less than two months to constitute.

The question now being asked is what method Buhari will adopt to announce his cabinet. The argument now is that with the issue of corruption being linked to his cabinet, will he now jettison his political party based on the fact that those he may want to nominate may be having issues relating to corrupt practices with the anti-graft agencies. It is believed that he is likely to do away with the list from the party and use his own discretion to pick his cabinet a situation which political observers argue could cause another crisis within the party.

Already with the list still a secret, some of the leaders of the APC have started showing interests. This to, many observers could be responsible to the present face-off between the immediate past governor of Lagos state, Mr. Babatunde Fashola and his mentor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who was said to be averse to Fashola being appointed a minister by President Buhari.

With the issues of corruption and ministerial list, there were strong indications that the President is likely to step on many toes within and outside the party. It was argued that if the president would go the way of the people that he should extend his probe beyond Jonathan, there was no way he would not step on toes because some past Presidents and head of states would be involved and this in a way could heat up the polity. Again, this would affect some key members of the APC, who worked for his emergence as the President. For instance in Lagos State, it was said that Buhari should probe former governor Tinubu, while there were protests too that the former governor of Rivers, Ekiti and incumbent Osun state governor and Fashola should be investigated.

Those who have been speaking on the issues of federal cabinet and the way the president is handling his corruption cases, include the leader of the PDP in Lagos, Chief Olabode George, who called for the probe of Tinubu and Fashola. He argued that Tinubu is complicit in the recent allegations of fund misappropriation by Fashola. He said that if Fashola is investigated there was no way to divorce Fashola from Tinubu his godfather. He argued that “if Fashola stands today in tarnished allegations, Tinubu his godfather cannot possibly distance himself in innocent escapism.’’

Among those who have castigated Buhari’s anti-corruption war is the Ekiti state governor, Ayodele Fayose, who has been critical of Buhari since he was chosen as the candidate of the APC. Fayose still maintained his stand that Buhari has been selective in his anti-corruption crusade. He was also critical of the President over what he described as his slow pace in appointing his cabinet, which according to him has been affecting governance.

He described it as an indication that the APC was not prepared for governance. Fayose also argued that the way Buhari is picking people up for corruption was an indication that he has embarked on vengeance mission. Also the chairman of the PDP in Rivers state has descended on Buhari for protecting former governor Rotimi Amaechi, whose administration is now under probe.

The person that is the most vocal in speaking against the activities of Buhari is the national publicity secretary of the PDP, Mr. Olisa Metuh, who has been attacking the APC government. He is no longer giving the APC a breathing space, saying that the APC government has begun massive arrests of PDP members especially those who served in the former President Jonathan’s government. This according to him amounts to a witch hunt.

Metuh said that the appointments so far made by the president did not follow the due process and he has allowed the security operatives to harass innocent people. He made specific reference to the cases in Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and other states where the DSS harassed and intimidated electoral officials in order to undermine and prevent fair hearing against the PDP. He said that Buhari has shown the sign that he would be dictatorial thereby undermining democracy by his actions on corruption and appointment.

But his counterpart in the APC will not delay in countering PDP, and defending Buhari and his party. Alhaji Lai Mohammed said that if the PDP that ruled the country for 16 years had done the right thing there will not be the need for Buhari to start all over. He said that the PDP now in opposition bastardized the economy and still remains the most corrupt government in the history of Nigeria. He pointed out that no responsible government would close its eyes to the magnitude of corruption perpetrated by the previous government.

According to Mohammed, “out of N38 trillion earned from the crude oil only N8 trillion was remitted to the Federation Account during the Jonathan’s government between 2012 and 2015. Also, another $2billionfrom excess crude account was unaccounted for by the Jonathan’s government, while the royalty from oil companies amounting to $6billion was looted by some ministers in the last government. 160 million barrels of crude worth $13billion in the NLG dividends was wasted on rice waivers, while N183 billion was unaccounted for by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).’’

Mr. Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman said that all the measures being taken by the President are in the best interests of the people of Nigeria. He expressed optimism that by time the list of the ministers is announced Nigerians would be happy.

A prominent lawyer and human rights crusader, Ebun Adegoroye argued that it was necessary for Buhari to clear the rot he met before thinking of naming his cabinet. He said that those to be appointed should be seen to have clean records. He said that Mr. President should not be stampeded into taken decisions that would not favour the country.

Comrade Isa Aremu, Deputy National President of the NLC said that so far so good the President is on course, adding that nothing should be done to derail him. He said all Nigerians must rally round him so that he would be able to curb corruption.

Meanwhile the issue which is now on the front burner is the argument of Rev Father Mathew Kuka, on how President Buhari should handle his anti-corruption crusade. Rev Kuka, who is a member of the national peace committee; believes that Buhari should be humane about his action and be fair to all especially the last government of Jonathan. But his remarks have been given different interpretation. While some say he was speaking in defence of Jonathan, others were of the opinion that he was only being fair in his statement without bias of any nature.